1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to article dispensing machines, particularly such machines in which discrete articles are dispensed by gravity discharge from cavities in a holder, such as used in filling containers with regular numbers of such articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In despensing machines of the general type concerned, the articles are fed into open-ended cavities in a holder and the holder is moved to a discharge station where the holder is tilted for discharge of the articles from the cavities. In one type of container filling machine in which the invention is utilized to advantage, the holder has a plurality of elongated slats provided with the cavities which are conveyed in a succession transversely of their length from the filling station to the discharging station, where the holders are tilted for discharge of their contents to a succession of containers moved past the station. Such container filling machines are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,607 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 462,107 now patent No. 3,925,960 of George W. Saari and Ronald L. Belliveau, filed Apr. 18, 1974 and assigned to the assignee of the present application.
With machines of the foregoing general type, difficulty has been experienced with occasional articles being stuck in the cavity so that they do not discharge under gravity at the discharge station, usually because they are either oversize or become wedged into the cavity by dust particles or pieces or chips broken off the articles. This difficulty is particularly troublesome where complete discharge is requisite for accurate count as in the container filling machines mentioned above, since an error in the count is thereby produced which may continue through many cycles before the condition is detected.